The St. Paul mayor’s race keeps getting busier. City Council member Dai Thao, who represents the Frogtown and Summit-University neighborhoods, on Monday became the latest to throw his name in the ring.

Thao joins former council members Pat Harris and Melvin Carter III, as well as former school board member Tom Goldstein, and the door remains open to any number of additional candidates.

A packed ballot is almost a given. The November 2017 mayor’s election will be decided by ranked-choice ballot, otherwise known as instant run-off voting, and there will be no political primary to whittle down the list of contenders.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, a DFLer who was elected to a third term in 2013 with 78 percent of the vote, recently announced he will run for governor instead of seeking re-election.

Others who have flirted with the possibility of running for mayor next year but who have publicly decided against it include state Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, and landlord Tim Holden, who earned 16 percent of the vote in the four-way mayor’s race in 2013. Deputy Mayor Kristin Beckmann said Monday, by way of email, “Was flattered by the number of people who encouraged me to run, but have decided not to.” Council member Amy Brendmoen, who has also been named as possible candidate, on Monday said she had “nothing to report.”

Perennial candidate Sharon Anderson, who ran for mayor in 2013, said Monday she will run instead for Minnesota Attorney General. “It’s cheaper — only $300,” she said.

Thao’s announcement represents a bit of an about-face for the council member, who had said he was not interested in running for mayor following the birth of his fifth child, Aden, this past summer. The infant was born with serious health issues comparable to anemia, but Thao recently said things are looking up after repeated treatments and a more specific diagnosis. Thao said his wife and others in the community had encouraged him to run.

Thao, who sits on the St. Paul Port Authority, the Twin Cities Community Land Bank and the Joint Property Tax Advisory Committee, noted in his campaign statement Monday that he had fought to restructure the Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission and secure a new training facility for the St. Paul Police Department. He has also advocated for paid-parental leave for city employees and an earned sick and safe time ordinance that has been deemed to be among the most aggressive in the country.

In his campaign statement Monday, Thao said St. Paul “is at a pivotal moment in need of leadership that will stand with the people despite the uncertainty of what goes on at the state and federal government. We need bold leadership that will tackle the largest racial disparities gap that is crippling our economy, ensure that people are invested in because they are the infrastructure of our community and economy, and make sure that our city services operate equitably across the city.

“To do this, our community demands and deserves continued leadership from an invested, hardworking and responsive leader who can both listen to, empathize with and lead the diverse residents of St. Paul,” he said. “I am a proud and determined progressive, and I will help us realize a more prosperous and secure future — a goal that is held dear by all of our residents, their families and friends.”

While Thao is the only sitting council member who has declared his candidacy, Harris and Carter both enjoy name recognition from their time on the council. In a Dec. 20 campaign finance report filed with Ramsey County, Harris indicated he had raised more than $46,000 for his campaign. Carter, who announced his candidacy a year ago, had raised $30,000 as of December 2015, including funds from his previous council campaign; more recent totals were not available Monday from the Ramsey County Elections office. As of his Nov. 12 campaign finance report, Goldstein had an account balance of $1,800, most of which came from two loans he had made to his own campaign.

END RANKED CHOICE?

The mayoral race has also inspired a number of citizen-led efforts, some of which may be discussed when the St. Paul Charter Commission convenes at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall. Shawn Towle, a DFL political consultant, has formed a political action committee in hopes of ending the city’s ranked-choice election system, which was approved by voters in 2009. His “St. Paul Votes Smarter” PAC is urging the charter commission to put the instant run-off voting system back on the ballot in 2017 so voters can again decide whether it’s the right approach for the capital city.

Towle maintains that “IRV” elections have done little, if anything, to improve voter turnout in city council and mayoral elections and may even be suppressing participation by confusing immigrants and first-time voters. Since the system was rolled out in St. Paul, voter turnout has continued to decline in municipal elections, though proponents have pointed to certain multiple-candidate council races as evidence to the contrary. Five of the seven city council members have authored a letter to the charter commission urging them not to put the system back on the ballot.

“They may have committed a finable offense,” said Towle, who believes the letter constitutes a legal quorum and violates the state open meeting law. “It effectively looks like a council position.”

Peter Butler, a former financial analyst for the city, is leading a separate effort to move St. Paul’s mayoral and city council elections off of their odd-year cycle. He figures that putting the mayoral and council races on the same even-year schedule as the gubernatorial and presidential elections would guarantee greater turnout. Even-year elections decide the mayor’s races in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles and San Diego. Critics have said even-year municipal races would be effectively drowned out by the national and statewide campaigns, making fundraising and voter education more difficult.

Frederick Melo was once sued by a reader for $2 million but kept on writing. He came to the Pioneer Press in 2005 and brings a testy East Coast attitude to St. Paul beat reporting. He spent nearly six years covering crime in the Dakota County courts before switching focus to the St. Paul mayor's office, city council, and all things neighborhood-related, from the city's churches to its parks and light rail. A resident of Hamline-Midway, he is married to a Frogtown woman. He Tweets with manic intensity at @FrederickMelo.

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